Anyone with the misfortune to step bare-footed on Chorizanthe rigida after the plant has dried instantly appreciates its common name. The species is widespread on the Mojave and Sonoran deserts but only occasionally is it locally abundant or weedy. It is found also along the Lahontan Trough in western Nevada, a well-known biogeographic extension route north of the Mojave Desert (J. L. Reveal 1980). The exceedingly compact and dense inflorescences with suppressed secondary branches result in a series of leaves and bracts that subtend a closely arranged series of bracteated and involucrated flowers.